Downloadable Press Kit
Images, Audio & Video Clips, Press Release
Early Praise
“Warren Lehrer’s breakthrough electronic book plunges us in the cinematic and poetic drama of the nightmarish loss of the ability to process words to the outside world. Why has this happened? Because a small blood clot got stuck in the brain at a crucial place. In Riveted in the Word, words become operatic characters: they pop out of shadows, revolve inside; the smallest needs of daily life turn into a dream, a struggle to communicate. But the author/designer, who immersed himself in the knowledge of stroke, Broca Aphasia, and rehabilitation, turns this dreadful event into an inspiring message of hope. Experience Riveted in a quiet place so you can savor the form and the content of this innovative, ‘hyper-graphic’ work at your own pace.”
Jean Paul Curtay, MD, member of the New York Academy of Sciences
“There are very few books that have changed the way I think about books. One is Chris Ware’s Building Stories. Another is Edel Rodriguez’ Worm. And now Warren Lehrer’s Riveted in the Word is added to that list. For me, it really changes the experience of what it means to be engaged with a book… Riveted is an electronic book, an app—inspired by the true story of a writer/retired history professor’s fight to regain language after a devastating stroke. The completely custom interface evokes gaps between thoughts, memories, desires, and the words needed to communicate. It places the reader, literally, inside the mind of the protagonist, Norah Hanson. Part memory, part struggle, part today, part yesterday, she even recalls that moment when she has the stroke… This stunning new kind of ebook is an experience to be had, an enthralling engagement of your senses… Once again, Lehrer is pioneering a new kind of reading experience.”
Debbie Millman, Print Magazine Book Club
“Lehrer’s electronic book Riveted in the Word is a beautiful, moving, and useful tool for communicating aphasia. With Broca’s aphasia (named after the discoverer, not the patient), the person is able, overall, to understand what’s being said, yet not able to express themselves. This is a puzzle for many people to understand. How can a person think if they have a problem expressing language? We experience thinking as a linguistic task, a little narrator constantly running. Riveted in the Word really brings home that discrepancy between the internal life and the external life, the internal and external language. Reading Norah’s interior narrative, you can see how she substitutes the word “soup” when she means to say ‘soap’, or how gestural language between people who are close, is often preserved; how they can honor what we call the pragmatics of language, which is the way couples can know what the other one is going to say. When the nurse holds up a comb and a brush, saying the words loudly, saying ‘bOwl’ with its very large O, we see that Norah understands. When someone has aphasia, it does not help to speak louder. The person is not less mature than anyone else. She doesn’t need to be taught the word. It really drives home that there’s more going on inside, and there’s a need for patience. I think Riveted in the Word will be particularly useful communicating aphasia to the non-aphasic, and will help make readers become more aware of the relationships between what somebody wants to say and what they are saying.”
Laura Boylan, MD, neurologist, Bellevue Hospital; faculty, NYU Langone/Grossman School of Medicine, faculty, responding to Riveted in the Word on New York Public Radio (WNYC).
“Riveted in the Word is a very different kind of ‘book.’ It is a multi-media book app that takes the reader into the mind of a professor on her journey with Broca’s aphasia. There are columns of text and animated sections that give a sense of the gaps between thoughts and the words needed to communicate those thoughts. And it has a very moving, original soundtrack as a background. This multimedia approach allows the user to participate in the complex experiences of recovery from a stroke and aphasia.”
National Aphasia Association (NAA), Recommended Reading
“Can compassion be learned? Medical education has struggled to find answers to this question and Riveted in the Word offers a solution: provide an opportunity to experience loss through the safe, accessible medium of an immersive e-book. The story and format draws the reader in and compels them to face the private thoughts and feelings and, powerfully, the mind and body of a patient who has suffered a life-altering medical event. This book succeeds in capturing loss with sensitivity and authenticity, and impacts the reader in the visceral way required to not only spark the flame of compassion and understanding of the patient experience but also to connect back to the humanity that can so easily be lost in the rigors of medical training. Riveted in the Word should be required reading for all medical students and residents.”
Dr. Anna Huh, Psychiatrist, Janian Medical Care
“An accomplished work of sincere mediated fiction that offers the reader a journey inside the mind of a person rehabilitating from a stroke. The text animations, which explore a wide array of kinetic text and concrete poetry, effectively emulate psychological conditions/dilemmas in the healing process. Congratulations Warren Lehrer and collaborators Artemio Morales and Andrew Griffin on having produced a work that is poignant and very readable. Riveted in the Word is an insightful, audacious exploration—I hope it receives the wide readership it deserves.”
David Jhave Johnson, digital poet, media artist, theorist & critic, author Aesthetic Animism
“Warren Lehrer’s new creation, Riveted in the Word, goes beyond the conventional limits of the e-book to plunge us into a veritable typographic cinema. The text—an interior narrative of a writer regaining language after a massive stroke—comes to life to the rhythm of a spellbinding soundtrack, creating a delicate choreography in a minimalist, vaporous space. An unforgettable, original, rare, and emotionally-charged reading experience.”
Frédéric Chauvreau, Editorial Director Revue Poésies Plastiques
“Riveted in the Word delivers two things: a portrait of a particular person’s pathway through a stroke, and the other, is like a reading primer providing different challenges that help the stroke-affected mind process information in multiple ways. As a portrait, it opens a window into the internal state of a stroke survivor to people who haven’t had one. Having had two hemorrhagic strokes, this work gives me comfort in its representation of the confusion and discontinuity that is part of the post-stroke recovery. At the same time, it gives me courage to explore and live in that different world. I also appreciate the production and artistry of this work which enlarges me and keeps me coming back for repeated viewings.”
Peter Schell, Licensed Acupuncturist
_________
People
Andrew Griffin is an award-winning violist, composer, and orchestrator. He has performed in such diverse settings as Saturday Night Live, Radio City Music Hall, the viola section of the New York Philharmonic, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. Since 2019, he has held chairs for multiple Broadway shows. His original compositions, arrangements, and orchestrations have also been commissioned by notable ensembles such as the Seattle Symphony Orchestra Chamber Series, Simply Three, Sphinx Virtuosi, the Queens College Orchestra, and Traverse City Dance Company. Prior to Riveted in the Word, Griffin collaborated with Lehrer on the soundtracks for the Five Oceans in a Teaspoon animations.
andrewgriffinmusic.com/music
Artemio Morales is a creative technologist whose interests lie at the intersection of storytelling, art, and technology. A programmer by trade, he is founder of AltSalt, a publisher and promoter of innovative, creative work by alternative voices, as well as Artmayu Studios, a studio dedicated to exploring electronic literature and its capabilities around interdisciplinary, collaborative forms of expression.
altsalt.com/about
_________
Events
Friday May 10, 3pm (ET)
Contemporary Artists’ Book Conference
Lehrer discusses Riveted in the Word and other works of his as part of the panel “Neurodivergent Literacy”
along with Ari Wolff and John Bonanni.
The conference is remote and Free.
Register here.
Thursday May 16, 4-5pm (ET)
Print (Magazine) Book Club
Warren discusses Jericho’s Daughter and Riveted in the Word with designer/author icons Debbie Millman and Steven Heller.
The Book Club is remote and Free.
Register here.
***DOUBLE BOOK LAUNCH***
Friday May 31st, 6:30pm
Center for Book Arts, Manhattan.
With Performance/readings by
Lehrer and Palestinian-American actor/author Najla Said, and actor/author Judith Sloan. Followed by Q&A and signing with Lehrer, Sharon Horvath, and other collaborators. Moderated by CBA Director Corina Reynolds, 28 West 27th St. NYC, 3rd Floor. Admission is free but seating is limited so please register in advance.
Admission is Free but seating is limited, so please Register here.
***DOUBLE BOOK LAUNCH***
Saturday June 1st, 3pm
Topaz Arts, Queens.
With Performance/readings by
Lehrer and Palestinian-American actor/author Najla Said, and actor/author Judith Sloan. Followed by Q&A and signing with Lehrer, Sharon Horvath, and other collaborators. Part of Topaz Arts’ Spring Salon. 55-03 39th Avenue in Woodside, NY.
Admission is Free but seating is limited so please Register here.
Friday July 19, 7:15pm ET
Electronic Literature Organization (Un)Linked Conference and Media Festival
Warren Lehrer, Artemio Morales, Judith Sloan present
Riveted in the Word: Portraying the Experience of Broca Aphasia in a New Work of Digital Fiction
***DOUBLE BOOK LAUNCH***
Saturday August 3, 7pm
Blue Hill Library. 5 Parker Point Rd, Blue Hill, Maine. Sponsored by Word Literary Festival in coordination with Blue Hill Books. With Performance/readings by Lehrer and Palestinian-American actor/author Najla Said, and actor/author Judith Sloan. Followed by Q&A with Lehrer, Said, Sloan, and signing by Lehrer. Event page with more information. Admission is Free but seating is limited so please Register at this link.
Warren Lehrer – 3 Books: A Performance/Reading/Celebration with Collaborators.
Wednesday Oct 9, 4-6pm Pratt Institute, Alumni Reading Room, Pratt Library
Featuring Reading/Performances with Adeena Karasick (Ouvert Oeuvre: Openings), Najla Said (Jericho’s Daughter), Judith Sloan (Riveted in the Word)
More info to come
The Visual Literature of Warren Lehrer
Wednesday Oct 23, 5pm
Visiting Artist Colloquium University of Wisconsin, Madison
More info to come
Electronic book written and designed by Warren Lehrer.
Original Soundtrack by Andrew Griffin. Programmed by Artemio Morales.
ISBN: 979-8-9897802-1-1. Published by EarSay in collaboration with AltSalt. June 1, 2024.
Made for iPad, iPhone, and Mac laptop or desktop computers (System 12 above).
Available through the (Apple) App Store.
A new kind of ebook, Riveted in the Word is inspired by the true story of a woman’s hard-fought battle to regain language after a devastating stroke. Written and designed by Warren Lehrer, this multimedia book app places the reader inside the mind of a retired history professor as she recalls her journey with Broca Aphasia. The custom interface toggles between columns of text that readers navigate at their own pace, and animated sections that evoke gaps between perceptions (thoughts, memories, desires) and the words needed to communicate. This deeply moving story about overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles is told in a dynamic new way, with kinetic typography and an original soundtrack by composer, multi-instrumentalist Andrew Griffin. Programmed by web/electronic literature developer Artemio Morales at AltSalt, this e-edition of Riveted in the Word, is made for iPad, iPhone, and Mac computers (System 12 and above).
In the late 1990s, Lehrer conducted a series of interviews as research for interior narratives and short stories about people who have taken great leaps in their lives. One of the people he interviewed was Willie Lee Rose, an author and professor of American History, who 20 years earlier, at the age of 51, suffered a massive stroke. Riveted in the Word is published in her memory. The fictionalized protagonist in Riveted in the Word, Norah Hanson, PhD, wakes to the sound of birds singing outside her window, hopeful for the day ahead. The reader witnesses her delightful sense of humor, determined spirit, and seemingly fragmented-but-intelligible thoughts as they shift from present to past, and toward her upcoming lecture at Cornell University—a milestone breakthrough scheduled for later that day. She meditates on: the daily struggle to find the right words; the grace of her late husband who never gave up hope; the generosity of friends who take her out on jaunts; miracles like VELCRO®, rehabilitation, life-saving doctors and therapists; and her disdain for the doctors who told her she’d never speak again. She sees the very yellow chicken consommé she was eating the night the stroke ruptured the hemispheres of her universe; the red dot between her eyes that still comes and goes throughout the day; a new book she’s envisioning.
EarSay is publishing Riveted in the Word simultaneously with Jericho’s Daughter, Lehrer’s anti-war, feminist reimagining of the biblical tale of Rahab, a powerful and physical book, printed in four colors, with images by Sharon Horvath, bound in a dos-à-dos binding. Both publications are based on stories written by Lehrer, create haptic, sensuous, and empathic reading experiences, and use bifurcated structures that reflect lives that have been ripped apart and begun anew.
A percentage of the proceeds from Riveted in the Word will go to the American Stroke Association.
Buy the Book!
Apple App Store. $4.99
sample frames and video clips
Downloadable Press Kit
Images, Audio & Video Clips, Press Release
Early Praise
“Warren Lehrer’s breakthrough electronic book plunges us in the cinematic and poetic drama of the nightmarish loss of the ability to process words to the outside world. Why has this happened? Because a small blood clot got stuck in the brain at a crucial place. In Riveted in the Word, words become operatic characters: they pop out of shadows, revolve inside; the smallest needs of daily life turn into a dream, a struggle to communicate. But the author/designer, who immersed himself in the knowledge of stroke, Broca Aphasia, and rehabilitation, turns this dreadful event into an inspiring message of hope. Experience Riveted in a quiet place so you can savor the form and the content of this innovative, ‘hyper-graphic’ work at your own pace.”
Jean Paul Curtay, MD, member of the New York Academy of Sciences
“There are very few books that have changed the way I think about books. One is Chris Ware’s Building Stories. Another is Edel Rodriguez’ Worm. And now Warren Lehrer’s Riveted in the Word is added to that list. For me, it really changes the experience of what it means to be engaged with a book… Riveted is an electronic book, an app—inspired by the true story of a writer/retired history professor’s fight to regain language after a devastating stroke. The completely custom interface evokes gaps between thoughts, memories, desires, and the words needed to communicate. It places the reader, literally, inside the mind of the protagonist, Norah Hanson. Part memory, part struggle, part today, part yesterday, she even recalls that moment when she has the stroke… This stunning new kind of ebook is an experience to be had, an enthralling engagement of your senses… Once again, Lehrer is pioneering a new kind of reading experience.”
Debbie Millman, Print Magazine Book Club
“Lehrer’s electronic book Riveted in the Word is a beautiful, moving, and useful tool for communicating aphasia. With Broca’s aphasia (named after the discoverer, not the patient), the person is able, overall, to understand what’s being said, yet not able to express themselves. This is a puzzle for many people to understand. How can a person think if they have a problem expressing language? We experience thinking as a linguistic task, a little narrator constantly running. Riveted in the Word really brings home that discrepancy between the internal life and the external life, the internal and external language. Reading Norah’s interior narrative, you can see how she substitutes the word “soup” when she means to say ‘soap’, or how gestural language between people who are close, is often preserved; how they can honor what we call the pragmatics of language, which is the way couples can know what the other one is going to say. When the nurse holds up a comb and a brush, saying the words loudly, saying ‘bOwl’ with its very large O, we see that Norah understands. When someone has aphasia, it does not help to speak louder. The person is not less mature than anyone else. She doesn’t need to be taught the word. It really drives home that there’s more going on inside, and there’s a need for patience. I think Riveted in the Word will be particularly useful communicating aphasia to the non-aphasic, and will help make readers become more aware of the relationships between what somebody wants to say and what they are saying.”
Laura Boylan, MD, neurologist, Bellevue Hospital; faculty, NYU Langone/Grossman School of Medicine, faculty, responding to Riveted in the Word on New York Public Radio (WNYC).
“Riveted in the Word is a very different kind of ‘book.’ It is a multi-media book app that takes the reader into the mind of a professor on her journey with Broca’s aphasia. There are columns of text and animated sections that give a sense of the gaps between thoughts and the words needed to communicate those thoughts. And it has a very moving, original soundtrack as a background. This multimedia approach allows the user to participate in the complex experiences of recovery from a stroke and aphasia.”
National Aphasia Association (NAA), Recommended Reading
“Can compassion be learned? Medical education has struggled to find answers to this question and Riveted in the Word offers a solution: provide an opportunity to experience loss through the safe, accessible medium of an immersive e-book. The story and format draws the reader in and compels them to face the private thoughts and feelings and, powerfully, the mind and body of a patient who has suffered a life-altering medical event. This book succeeds in capturing loss with sensitivity and authenticity, and impacts the reader in the visceral way required to not only spark the flame of compassion and understanding of the patient experience but also to connect back to the humanity that can so easily be lost in the rigors of medical training. Riveted in the Word should be required reading for all medical students and residents.”
Dr. Anna Huh, Psychiatrist, Janian Medical Care
“An accomplished work of sincere mediated fiction that offers the reader a journey inside the mind of a person rehabilitating from a stroke. The text animations, which explore a wide array of kinetic text and concrete poetry, effectively emulate psychological conditions/dilemmas in the healing process. Congratulations Warren Lehrer and collaborators Artemio Morales and Andrew Griffin on having produced a work that is poignant and very readable. Riveted in the Word is an insightful, audacious exploration—I hope it receives the wide readership it deserves.”
David Jhave Johnson, digital poet, media artist, theorist & critic, author Aesthetic Animism
“Warren Lehrer’s new creation, Riveted in the Word, goes beyond the conventional limits of the e-book to plunge us into a veritable typographic cinema. The text—an interior narrative of a writer regaining language after a massive stroke—comes to life to the rhythm of a spellbinding soundtrack, creating a delicate choreography in a minimalist, vaporous space. An unforgettable, original, rare, and emotionally-charged reading experience.”
Frédéric Chauvreau, Editorial Director Revue Poésies Plastiques
“Riveted in the Word delivers two things: a portrait of a particular person’s pathway through a stroke, and the other, is like a reading primer providing different challenges that help the stroke-affected mind process information in multiple ways. As a portrait, it opens a window into the internal state of a stroke survivor to people who haven’t had one. Having had two hemorrhagic strokes, this work gives me comfort in its representation of the confusion and discontinuity that is part of the post-stroke recovery. At the same time, it gives me courage to explore and live in that different world. I also appreciate the production and artistry of this work which enlarges me and keeps me coming back for repeated viewings.”
Peter Schell, Licensed Acupuncturist
_________
People
Andrew Griffin is an award-winning violist, composer, and orchestrator. He has performed in such diverse settings as Saturday Night Live, Radio City Music Hall, the viola section of the New York Philharmonic, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. Since 2019, he has held chairs for multiple Broadway shows. His original compositions, arrangements, and orchestrations have also been commissioned by notable ensembles such as the Seattle Symphony Orchestra Chamber Series, Simply Three, Sphinx Virtuosi, the Queens College Orchestra, and Traverse City Dance Company. Prior to Riveted in the Word, Griffin collaborated with Lehrer on the soundtracks for the Five Oceans in a Teaspoon animations.
andrewgriffinmusic.com/music
Artemio Morales is a creative technologist whose interests lie at the intersection of storytelling, art, and technology. A programmer by trade, he is founder of AltSalt, a publisher and promoter of innovative, creative work by alternative voices, as well as Artmayu Studios, a studio dedicated to exploring electronic literature and its capabilities around interdisciplinary, collaborative forms of expression.
altsalt.com/about
_________
Events
Friday May 10, 3pm (ET)
Contemporary Artists’ Book Conference
Lehrer discusses Riveted in the Word and other works of his as part of the panel “Neurodivergent Literacy”
along with Ari Wolff and John Bonanni.
The conference is remote and Free.
Register here.
Thursday May 16, 4-5pm (ET)
Print (Magazine) Book Club
Warren discusses Jericho’s Daughter and Riveted in the Word with designer/author icons Debbie Millman and Steven Heller.
The Book Club is remote and Free.
Register here.
***DOUBLE BOOK LAUNCH***
Friday May 31st, 6:30pm
Center for Book Arts, Manhattan.
With Performance/readings by
Lehrer and Palestinian-American actor/author Najla Said, and actor/author Judith Sloan. Followed by Q&A and signing with Lehrer, Sharon Horvath, and other collaborators. Moderated by CBA Director Corina Reynolds, 28 West 27th St. NYC, 3rd Floor. Admission is free but seating is limited so please register in advance.
Admission is Free but seating is limited, so please Register here.
***DOUBLE BOOK LAUNCH***
Saturday June 1st, 3pm
Topaz Arts, Queens.
With Performance/readings by
Lehrer and Palestinian-American actor/author Najla Said, and actor/author Judith Sloan. Followed by Q&A and signing with Lehrer, Sharon Horvath, and other collaborators. Part of Topaz Arts’ Spring Salon. 55-03 39th Avenue in Woodside, NY.
Admission is Free but seating is limited so please Register here.
Friday July 19, 7:15pm ET
Electronic Literature Organization (Un)Linked Conference and Media Festival
Warren Lehrer, Artemio Morales, Judith Sloan present
Riveted in the Word: Portraying the Experience of Broca Aphasia in a New Work of Digital Fiction
***DOUBLE BOOK LAUNCH***
Saturday August 3, 7pm
Blue Hill Library. 5 Parker Point Rd, Blue Hill, Maine. Sponsored by Word Literary Festival in coordination with Blue Hill Books. With Performance/readings by Lehrer and Palestinian-American actor/author Najla Said, and actor/author Judith Sloan. Followed by Q&A with Lehrer, Said, Sloan, and signing by Lehrer. Event page with more information. Admission is Free but seating is limited so please Register at this link.
Warren Lehrer – 3 Books: A Performance/Reading/Celebration with Collaborators.
Wednesday Oct 9, 4-6pm Pratt Institute, Alumni Reading Room, Pratt Library
Featuring Reading/Performances with Adeena Karasick (Ouvert Oeuvre: Openings), Najla Said (Jericho’s Daughter), Judith Sloan (Riveted in the Word)
More info to come
The Visual Literature of Warren Lehrer
Wednesday Oct 23, 5pm
Visiting Artist Colloquium University of Wisconsin, Madison
More info to come